Stolen Azeri Source of Ionizing Radiation Recovered

April 29, 1998

Abstract:

On 28 April 1998, the Azerbaijani State Committee for Emergencies reported the recovery of a highly active source of ionizing radiation (the report does not specify the isotope involved) that had recently been stolen. The report does not specify the date of the theft. The radiation source had been taken from a maritime navigation installation, and was discovered near the town of Zirya, about 15km from the site from which it was diverted. The source was recovered during a search by a team composed of officials from the Azerbaijani National Security, Defense, and Interior Ministries. The State Committee for Emergencies declared that the area in which the radiation source was recovered was not contaminated and that the background radiation level there is now normal. The radiation source has been placed in a special storage container, and will be sent to the Izotop Industrial Complex outside Baku for disposal in a radioactive waste burial site. An investigation into the theft of the radiation source continues.

This material is produced independently for NTI by the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of and has not been independently verified by NTI or its directors, officers, employees, or agents.

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This article is part of a collection examining reported incidents of nuclear or radioactive materials trafficking in or originating from the Newly Independent States.